Floor board seal



c. SAURER FLOOR BOARD SEAL Filed May 25. 1

" ily/[III] INVENTOR C 7' $19 URER ZWW ATTO RNEY! Patented Apr. 2, 19402,196,083

| Y I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR BOARD SEAL Curt Saurer, Akron,Ohio, assignor to The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application May 25, 1938, Serial No. 209,945

1 Claim. (Cl. 74-566) This invention relates to floor board seals, andseal-section II], II at the end thereof remote from more especially itrelates to seals that are mountsleeve I2 is spanned by a web ordiaphragm I3, able in the floor board of a motor vehicle, about whichdiaphragm has an axial aperture I4 therethe clutch or brake pedal leversthereof, and in. When seal-section I is assembled with sec- **'5 adaptedto maintain sealed engagement with said tion II the seal structureappears as illustrated s5 levers during the operation thereof. inFigure 1. The telescoped sleeves keep the body The chief objects of theinvention are more portions of the annular structures in spacedrelaeffectively to close the pedal openings in the floor tion so thatthere is an annular groove I5 in the board of a vehicle and thereby toprevent dust, assembled structure;

dirt, water and cold air from entering there- The seal is seated in acircular aperture in the 10 through; to provide a seal of the charactermenfloor board I! of a motor vehicle. The-floor tioned that will'be ofsimple construction; to proboard aperture is counterbored on both sidesto vide a seal that readily may be mounted in the provide a medial,inwardly extending, annular floor board of a vehicle; that will maintainsealed flange or tenon I8 that fits within the groove I5 engagement withthe pedal levers at all times; of the seal, said tenon and saidcounterbores be- 15 and that will not interfere with the normal funci gf l rger diameter than the groove I5 and the tioning of said levers.Other objects will be utside dia ete s of ect With the manifest as thespecification proceeds. result that there is clearance about the sealthat Of the accompanying drawing: permits it to move radially in alldirections rela- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the floor tivelyof its seat. Preferably the floor board 20 board of a motor vehicle andone embodiment of aperture is IOC d at t e ju c u e of two of the theimproved seal mountedin anopening therein, floor board sections, asshown in Figure 2, to a pedal lever being shown, in side elevation, infacilitate mounting of the seal in the aperture.

operative association with said seal; The seal is arranged tocircumscribe a pedal lever 5 Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 ofFig- I9 that extends through the apertures I4 in the me 1; respectivediaphragms I3 of the seal, the dia- Figure 3 is a side elevation of theimproved p ra m mar ins a ut said ap r u lightly seal, on a largerscale, with the respective parts e g iJhe pedal lever and thereby efiecty thereof in separated relation; sealing the lever opening in the floorboard. The L Figure 4 is a diametric section through one unit di p ag sI3 e Sulfi t y n that the lever 30 of the improved seal, showing how thesame is 9 Will s de t rough the apertures therein p trimmed andperforated during the manufacture axial movement of said lever, and a ylateral thereof; movement of the lever causing the seal to move Figure 5is a diametric section through another edgewise as a unit withinitsseat. embodiment of the improved seal; The seal-sections I0, II arevulcanized in a 35 Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing moldin the usual manner, wiith the diaphragm I3 the second embodiment of theseal in operative in imperforate Condition, the aperture ubassociationwith a floor board and pedal lever; sequently being formed by means of apunch 2| d that also is constructed and arranged to trim 40 Figure 7 isa diametric section of the seal as he Ov rfl w r m he perimeter of theseal-sec- 40 it appears before removal from the mandrel upon tion, asshown in Figurei. which it is molded. The embodiment of the inventionhereinbefore The embodiment of the invention shown in described isdesignated for use with pedal levers Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, of thedrawing, is a that have considerable amplitude of movement two-partsectional structure, the respective parts during operation, thusrequiring that the seal be 45 of which are designated l0 and II. Theseal is relatively large in inside diameter. If the pedal composed ofvulcanized rubber composition that lever has relatively little Operativemovement, a is relatively soft and resilient. Each of the memseal ofsmaller size may be utilized, and such seal bers I0, II is of annularform, and has a short, may be in one piece instead of sectional.

5 axially-extending flange or sleeve I2 on its inner Referring now toFigures 5 to '7 of the drawing,

' margin, the outside diameter of sleeve I2 on secthere is shown a onepiece seal 24 of resilient tion I0 being substantially the same as theinside rubber composition. Said seal 24 is a hollow diameter of sleeveI2 on section II, whereby said structure of general cylindrical form,and having sleeves may be telescoped in the assembled cona medialcircumferential, constricted region that dition of the seal. The axialopening of each provides a circumferential groove 25 on the exte- 55rior thereof. The respective ends of the seal 24 are provided withrelatively thin diaphragms 26, each of which is formed with an axialaperture 21. The seal 24 is mounted in a suitable aperture in a floorboard 28, there being an inwardly extending flange or tenon 29 in theaperture for engagement in the groove 25 of the seal. The floor boardaperture and the tenon 29 are of such size as to provide clearance aboutthe seal, thus enabling the latter to slide about on its seat in themanner previously described. A pedal lever 30 extends through the axialapertures 21 of the seal in the same manner as in the previouslydescribed embodiment of the invention.

The seal 24 is manufactured by being molded and vulcanized upon amandrel 32 that has the shape of the hollow interior of the seal, saidmandrel comprising an axial stem 33 that forms the apertures 21 in theseal, as is shown in Figure '7. The mandrel 32 is removed from thevulcanized seal 24 through one of the apertures 21 therein, thediaphragms 2'6 being sufiiciently thin and elastic to stretch over thelargest diameter of the mandrel. In the first described embodiment ofthe invention, the inside diameter of the seal is so great as topreclude the removal of a mandrel in the manner described with relationto the last described embodiment, thus requiring that the embodimentfirst described be made initially as separable sections,

The improved seal effectively closes the pedal lever openings in thefloor board of a motor vehicle, thus making for cleanliness and eventemperature within the vehicle. The seal is substantially flush with theupper side of the floor board but extends beyond the lower surfacethereof to form a cushion against which the pedal normally rests whennot in depressed position.

Other modification may be resorted to without departing from the spiritof the invention, or the scope thereof as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A fioor board seal for the pedal levers of motor vehicles, said sealconsisting of a hollow annular structure of resilient material havingrelatively thin end walls, the latter being formed with axial aperturesof relatively small diameter as com-- pared to the inside diameter ofthe structur. through which apertures a pedal lever may pass withsliding fit, said structure consisting of two axially separable sectionsthat telescope with each other in the medial region of the seal, thestruc ture being formed exteriorly with a peripheral groove in itsmedial region in which a tenon in a floor board aperture is receivable.

CURT SAURER.

